


Beneath the Hidden Eye

by heroinelinkle



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Super Smash Brothers, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, 光神話 | Kid Icarus (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, Mystery, Suspense, inspired by video games, not sure what to tag honestly but i'll update and fix them as i go along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-10-29 22:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10863453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heroinelinkle/pseuds/heroinelinkle
Summary: The town of Northbury was a popular tourist destination known for its clear night skies, beautiful scenery and glistening lakes. One day, Link Ferren stumbles upon the unexpected-a murder. As more murders take place at his high school, Link follows in his father's footsteps and decides to investigate the murders with the help of Silas Kallis, the supposed lone wolf of the campus.





	1. Prologue: Little Lamb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, long time no see! Oddly enough while I was slowly but surely working on the second chapter, I got an idea for a prologue so I decided to write that instead. I'm sure it's pretty unheard of for people to write a prologue after writing the first chapter however I'm not sure. I'll most likely be transferring some of the author's notes from the first chapter here since the prologue will be the first thing your eyes feast upon.
> 
> Anyways, after a month or two of beating Breath of the Wild and watching various playthroughs of other video games, I felt inspired to finally write an AU. While I am a fan of Linkpit, after reading Zelda's diary in BotW and learning why Link is so stoic, I felt that the opposite of that ship would be the perfect balance (I'm going to leave it at that just in case there are those who have yet played or completed the game). Another thing that prompted me to write this was definitely the lack of this particular ship and other influences, consisting of Life is Strange, Silent Hill and Rule of Rose.
> 
> Being inspired by one of the works of another fanfiction author, I decided to incorporate song suggestions because why not.
> 
> Song suggestions: Intro- Rule of Rose - "Piano Elude I" / When things go awry- Rule of Rose - "Piano Elude II"
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters nor franchises.  
> Warning for unintentional OOC.

_Ring around the rosy_

Scattered cackles bounced throughout school grounds. A group of young boys quickly scurried away into an empty shed, away from prying eyes. They were about no older than the age of nine as one of them immediately slammed the door in sight, while the others positioned themselves. Laughter continued to consume the rambunctious bunch. They exchanged glances with one another before presuming on with their merry little game of hide-and-go seek—or so as it appeared to be. A taller boy inched towards the middle and ushered a few words under his mouth, concealing his coy grin. His hazel eyes pierced through the lean boy near the window as he lifted up a finger, ordering him to peek outside.

The other boy did exactly as he was told. He cracked open the door slightly and leaned forward. After taking a swift glimpse of his surroundings, the boy quickly closed the door and rushed over to his friends.

"He's coming! Everyone, quickly—take position!"

Shortly after, the boys began lining themselves up one by one in a neat little row, ranging from shortest to tallest. The self-proclaimed leader of the bunch brushed back the strands of his blond hair a bit before smirking. He seemed to be quite pleased that  _he_ was actually coming.

"I can't believe he actually fell for the bait," he commented with slight mockery evident in his own tone. Before he knew it, the doorknob began to turn as the door slowly creaked.

A young boy shorter than the rest of his peers slowly stepped inside the shed, gently shutting the door behind him. He wasn't like the rest of the boys who were present in the room. As a matter of fact, they were completely polar opposites on an astronomical plane. While the other boys were more outgoing and presented themselves with confidence, he on the other hand, was meek and mild. The other boys weren't afraid to demonstrate dominance and disrupt the teacher during class. Meanwhile the short boy often kept to himself. Due to his extremely shy temperament, it made him an easy target for his classmates and others alike to take complete advantage of him. Yet despite the gut feeling which gnawed at his stomach, he continued to yearn for acceptance—even if it meant being a total pushover.

The leader's gaze was fixated on him. Their eyes made contact with one another, causing the short boy to flinch instantly, almost as if the ringleader instilled the fear of god in him. The blond motioned his hands, silently informing his peer to move closer towards him. In response, the young boy did as he was simply told. As he inched forward towards the group of boys, a few suppressed snickers were heard here and there. Meanwhile the blond in front of him tried his best to mask the smirk which tried escaping his lips.

His intuition constantly reassured him to stay back yet the boy continued to refuse its warnings. Although he was quite hesitant at first, he did what the boys pleased. He was certainly desperate to make friends with them, regardless of the countless times they constantly harassed him since kindergarten.

_A pocket full of posies_

For a minute or two, an awkward silence stood between the group of boys and their little prey. The short boy stared at the ground, his gaze fixated on his sneakers while avoiding the judging eyes of his peers. Before he knew, the blond cleared his throat, breaking the silence which sat between them.

"Hey," the blond began, "I'm glad you could make it."

He perked up his head while his eyes widened, being completely taken back by the blond's response. It was one thing for him to expect an insult or two, but to be treated as if he was an equal threw him off-guard. Not wanting to screw up a possible treaty against his tormentors, the boy decided it was best to keep his mouth shut for now.

"About everything that happened between us," the other boy continued, "I'm completely sorry for everything I had ever done to you. It wasn't until sometime this week I realized how cruel I was being to you for no reason and honestly, you deserved none of it. I feel we should rekindle our relationship as friends, not enemies—so, do you forgive me?"

The boy stood quiet for a few seconds, fiddling with his fingers as he was lost in thought. He couldn't believe what he just heard come out of his bully's mouth. Part of him was extremely hesitant to even accept his apology yet another part wished to move on and be the bigger person, just like how his mother always told him when it came to life's problems.

"Don't fall for it, he's just lying to you! They're just doing this so you'll lower your guard and succumb to their cruel games."

While his thoughts warned him prior, the boy however ignored them. All he wanted was to be friends with them so without further thought, he decided to accept the blond's apology. After all, his voice actually sounded rather genuine in his plea. In response, the blond's lips curled into a smile and sighed of relief. His friends on the other hand, began to giggle behind him, causing him to swiftly turn around and shoot them a glare, ordering them to hush immediately. Like lemmings, his followers listened right away as their laughter ceased, causing the room to become eerily silent once more.

Without further ado, the blond removed a cream drape between him and the smaller child, revealing a glass tank full of water. The boy stared at it, his eyes gleaming with full curiosity. He wondered if his new friend was practicing a new hobby in the meantime. The blond inhaled deeply before exhaling, trying to figure out how to convey his recent thoughts into words.

"So…" he began, "I've been practicing the art of magic as of late and I was wondering—would you like to be my assistant? I asked these other knuckleheads behind me yet those idiots refused to even help. You most certainly won't be like them, right?"

The boy answered him by shaking his head. His response caused his friend to beam wide, delighted that his new friend wasn't like the other band of goons behind him. He didn't want the blond to know he only accept his offer on impulse as he wanted to eagerly impress him.

"I was going to begin by practicing by trying to make a coin disappear but I accidentally dropped it in this tank. Since you're the smallest one out of our entire group, can you please do me a favorite and retrieve it for me?" Another smirk escaped the blond's lips yet thankfully his new "friend" didn't catch on. It amused him how he lingered onto his every word, trying his best to please his needs. He honestly thought it would take more effort to bribe him to do what he wanted however the boy easily dropped all charges just for some friendship. It was quite pitiful to say the least, cute but pathetic.

" _Ashes, ashes."_

Without thinking, the boy inched his way towards the tank in front of him him. He perched himself on the edge of the step-stool and dipped his feet inside the water. He glanced up at the sneering boys before presuming on with retrieving the coin for the magic trick. As soon as he pushed himself into the water, the main boy pushed a heavy lid onto the tank, blockading the only exit.

Panicking, the boy began squirming around in the limited body of water, even banging on the glass for them to let him out. Unfortunately, the boys were amused by his cry for help, the leader clutching onto his gut from their most devious trick yet.

"I can't believe he fell for it!" One happily commented.

"I know right?!" remarked another.

"Hey boys, you're forgetting something—this is Pipsqueak we're talking about remember? He's so stupid, he'll fall for anything," the leader exclaimed.

"To think he didn't easily see through our false apology. Man, he  _really_  is that dumb."

The boys rushed towards the exit, snickering on their way out while they left their victim to submerge in water. His head began pounding fiercely as his body screamed for oxygen. Darkness began to envelope him in its grasp while his heart was beating rapidly in panic. His body squirmed in all directions, trying its best to create an exit for the boy to escape his impending fate. Various colorful splotches danced in front of him, taking forms of various shapes. He could barely recall if his eyes were closed or open at this point. Shortly after, the colorful splotches faded away, leaving his field of vision to become completely pitch black. At this point, all illusions of surviving were gone. His body grew numb from all the struggling it did to remove the lid blockading the surface.

Afterwards, the boy fell further and further into the darkness as it gaped open its jaws and swallowed him whole.

_We all fall down_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for keeping descriptions rather vague but I didn't want to give away too much. I will say one thing though, the blond in the prologue will be appearing again in this story as he is a throwaway OC of mine. Let's just say he's not supposed to be likable.


	2. Chapter 1: A Strange Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Link and Zelda in this story are based on their appearances in BotW. The story also takes place in a fictional modern setting.
> 
> Song suggestions: Intro - Silent Hill 3 - "End of a Small Sanctuary"/Stroll through the park/Misc. - Silent Hill 2 - "Forest"
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters nor franchises.  
> Warning for unintentional OOC.

The day was creeping up to an end. The sky's canvas painted an array of pink, orange and yellow hues which slowly transitioned into a lower saturation consisting of blue and purple hues, giving off a calm, soothing effect. The sun dived into the horizon, its rays of light slowly succumbing to the darkness as it switched places with the moon, allowing it to softly illuminate the evening sky which took over. While tourists and many new faces alike would be in awe by the canopy of luminous stars which flickered, to Link Ferren however, the clear night sky simply indicated the end of the day.

Link stepped foot outside of a remodeled antique shop, one that wasn't too small nor too large—the aroma harbored a faint mixture of floral scents (rose, lavender, jasmine, and gardenia) with a plethora of dated objects neatly aligned in their respective sections in the store, ranging from aged interior furniture, porcelain objects, to even outdated toys from the past. Overall the shop gave off a very pleasant aura, reminding Link of his grandmother's house back when they used to live two towns over. While regulars mistook him as an employee, Link was only at the shop volunteering to help a friend of his grandmother to unload delivery boxes from her truck.

A woman no older than the age of sixty-five walked outside a few minutes after him, frantically digging into the pockets of her cashmere sweater while she took out her keys, placing it inside the lock as she closed up shop for the day. Despite her portly frame, the old woman presented herself with elegance and class—she donned a rose colored sheath dress accompanied with matching flats along with beige stockings and a pearl necklace. Her neck length coral hair happened to be styled into a think swirl on the front of her face. She glanced over in Link's direction, taking note of his leave after a hard work of unloading and unboxing recent arrivals. The old woman quickly recalled the little gift she whipped up for Agnes's grandson before he departs home for the night.

"Link wait!" She called out to him. "Before you go, I want you to have these as a treat for all the hard work you've done for me today."

She dug through her purse, pulling out a plastic bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies as she handed it to him. Link smiled in response while he extended his arm, grabbing the bag from her.

"Thank you Miss Pultman, I really appreciate it." Link scratched the back of his head, taking note of his loose hair tie. He removed it from his blond locks, fixing up his ponytail before resuming on. "Even if my grandmother didn't send me over, I still would have helped you regardless."

Miss Pultman, otherwise simply known as Julia, chortled at his response. As Link turned around, Julia quickly remembered what she was going to say before she lost her train of thought. "Link! When you get back home, tell your grandmother I say hello."

"Got it!"

Link removed one his backpack straps off his shoulders, swinging it in front of him with the other. He opened up the zipper and placed the cookies inside before zipping it back up. From there, Link proceeded to make way towards his house, walking pass one of the many local shopping districts which lie in the town of Northbury.

Northbury was known for its clear skies allowing residents and visitors alike to gaze at the stars, its clean lakes, fine greenery and remolded vintage homes. Despite it being one of the smaller towns, its overall population exceeded over five-thousand, making it highly unlikely for anyone to know all of the residents by facial recognition and name. There were plenty of activities for denizens to engage in each season as well as the pier near Lake Veria was opened year round.

Despite Link being a Northbury resident for the majority of his life, he always felt like he saw something new every day, whether the string lights in Kawasaki's food stand were rearranged or the flowers perched on the windowstill of Nana's tea parlor were replaced to accompany the upcoming season. While Link was captivated by the town's ever changing scenery, little did he realize he walked past a weapon shop owned by the family of one of his childhood friends.

Ravio's gaze was fixated on the window near his bed, observing both the welcoming night sky and scenery below from the second story of the shop. He observed the various townspeople walk past while his mother closed up shop for the day, his green eyes catching glimpse of Link. Ravio grinned before bolting out of his bedroom. He made haste downstairs, startling his mother as Ravio ran towards the door.

"Ravio, where are you going?!" His mother questioned. The next thing she knew, her son was already out the door and on his way to greet a friend. Ravio's mother crossed her arms, shook her head and sighed. This wasn't anything new. Ravio had a tendency to frequently rush out of the house without telling her where he even planned on going.

Meanwhile, Link continued scoping the town scenery, taking note of many potential locations which would make excellent painting spots. The next thing he knew, Ravio placed his hand on this shoulder and waved with the other.

"Hey Link!" he happily greeted. "Are you doing anything later on today?"

"No, not really." Link tilted his head and rested his arms on his chest. "Why'd you ask?"

"Well…" Ravio began fiddling with his fingers while he gathered his thoughts, trying to figure out how to reply. "I was just wondering if you would like to go out with the gang to eat out somewhere and maybe catch a movie or something. Dark's already down for it and I just need to text Ilia, Shulk, Reyn and Fiora. They'll most likely be up for it."

Link stood quiet for a moment. As he was about to speak, Ravio quickly lifted up his hand as if telling him to wait, throwing Link off-guard.

Ravio leaned towards his friend, playfully wiggling his eyebrows as he smirked. "I can even get Zelda to come if you like," he jovially teased which was proceeded by a short snicker afterwards.

Link stared at Ravio for a slight moment before shaking his head. "As fun as that sounds, I'm going to have to decline your offer dude. After a long day of helping out Miss Pultman at the antique shop near Adams Street, I feel like I've done enough for the day." He paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "Plus, the last thing I want is for my grandmother to worry about my whereabouts. You know how she much she worries if I'm not back by a certain time."

Ravio slouched a bit and frowned. He pouted, almost as if he was disappointed by Link's response before he shrugged. "While I'm bummed out you won't be hanging out with us for the evening, I understand. The last thing you need is to make your old lady worry, right?" Ravio walked backwards in the opposite direction, his gaze fixated on Link. "Anyways, I shall get going now. I'll try to have fun for the both of us, alright?"

With those words, Ravio parted ways with Link, leaving the other teen by himself once more. Link waved goodbye before continuing on with his partial journey. He passed a few more shops and local eating establishments along the way, seeing various people engaged in Northbury's nightlife. Despite it only being a weekday, the night was busy with both young and old people alike, whether they were strolling through the town on their bicycles, spending their evening at the pier or in his friend's case, eating out and heading over towards the movie theater afterwards.

Link eventually reached the crossroad between Luna Park and the housing district which housed the upper class. While he knew for a fact strolling towards the decadent neighborhood took him home faster, Link however was in the mood to take the scenic route through the park. He began trotting towards the park, his eyes fixated on the dim light fixtures that lit the concrete path beneath him. He took notice how isolated the park was, being devoid of life despite it being a popular destination during the time of day.

Link halted in his tracks, not taking note of a mysterious figure covered up in a dark hoodie swiftly walking past him. He quickly turned his gaze towards the figure, wondering who they were and tried to catch a glimpse of their face however, failed. The entire hood covered up their face, preventing Link from deciphering any features as he shrugged before presuming on.

" _Maybe it was just a coincidence—well, I guess..."_

He continued walking through the park, being able to make out the vacant benches near lake along with oak trees scattered nearby as their leaves slowly transitioned for the fall weather. Link stared at the glistening lake being illuminated by the moon's glow, observing the beautiful scenery. With the lake in mind, he made another mental note of a good painting spot for the evening. As his blue eyes were occupied, the sound of a child's small laughter quickly ripped his gaze away from his subject.

Link turned around quickly, seeing nothing in sight. He proceeded to look towards his left and then towards right, catching glimpse of no child in sight yet again before finally continuing his walk. He froze in place, seeing a young child no older than the age of six in front of him. He squinted slightly, trying his best to make out their features. But in spite of it all, the child seemed to blend in with the scenery ahead. The only thing Link could make out was the fact they were a young boy. The thing which made the child really stood out was the rabbit which rested between his arms as its nose twitched. Link wondered what a young child was doing out late, let alone wandering aimlessly by himself in the evening. Knowing it was highly unethical to allow a small boy to continue roaming the empty streets, Link decided to question his whereabouts.

"Hey kid," he called out to him, "are you lost by any chance?"

The child in front of him however, didn't respond. Instead, he continued staring at Link while the rabbit rested itself between in his arms, minding its own business. Seeing how the little boy refused to answer, Link decided to initiate the next step he mustered up last minute on whim. Slowly but surely, Link began inching towards him, trying his best not to startle the child. He assumed the child must had been afraid hence the lack of response. It was common for children not to talk to strangers as their parents always taught them, otherwise they could potentially place themselves in grave danger.

While Link proceeded to gradually make his way towards the child, the young boy on the other hand, started to back away slowly. This was antecedently followed by the rabbit leaping out of the boy's arms, causing him to gasp in response.

"Lucy, wait!"

Afterwards, the boy dashed towards the rabbit as Link's eyes widened.

"H-hey! Wait up!"

Link immediately followed the child in pursuit, trying his best to not lose sight of the young boy. He dashed through the park, forgetting about making it home on time. He followed the kid throughout a partially lit neighborhood before arriving at what seemed to be a dead end. Link noticed steel gates in front of him as a building sat behind it. He instantly recognized it to be the front gates of Sherfield High, the school he was currently attending for his sophomore year.

"Out of all places, why would a small child run to an enclosed campus," Link thought out loud. It wasn't like anyone was near to hear him anyways. Without further ado, he proceeded to slowly inch towards the gates, regardless of school grounds being off limits during the night in case the child managed to somehow sneak in. He looked around however stopped abruptly in his tracks before he could go on any further.

Link caught a whiff of a distinctive odor, causing him to instantly plug his nose in response. While most wouldn't be able to recognize the grotesque copper-thick scent right away, Link on the other hand, knew it was the smell of a freshly amputated body. Pondering why anyone would leave the remains of someone near the schoolyard, Link tried his best to conceal himself from vomiting from the odor as he inched towards the source of the smell. While others would had immediately seized the chance to boldly flee in case of the murderer still remaining afoot, Link however, remained unfazed.

He began scanning the premises near the gates, catching sight of an unfamiliar object resting between the bushes, leaning against the tree. Link trotted his way towards the bushes as the only sounds being emitted were the faint sounds of his footsteps accompanied by crackling leaves. Soon after, he knelt down and gently loosened up the strings from the bag as it revealed amputated arms and legs inside. In response, Link quickly closed up the bag, being disgusted from the gruesome sight, almost gagging even.

Before he knew it, Link came across an odd lump buried in dirt not too far from him. Knowing that he'll only be bracing himself for the worst, not once did Link had to guess or check out what rested underneath the earth's soil—he already knew what was inside. Instead of even bothering to observe the pile of dirt, Link's gaze was more fixated on the evidence the supposed murderer left behind.

Link slowly walked towards the object as he knelt down, swiped it and began observing it. Right away Link recognized it to be an empty prescription bottle. Without second notice, he started to read the label which thankfully wasn't faded out. The medicine vial was supposedly full of sertraline. Unfortunately the commercial name of the drug completely faded out. Link made a mental note to search it up on the internet whenever he got the chance. Luckily in his case, the name of the patient had yet to fade as Link muttered their name out loud.

"Silas Kallis."

The prescription bottle belonged to someone by the name of Silas. Before Link could further ponder about the sudden situation, he heard the leaves rustle as a security guard was making his way towards Link's direction, gripping onto his flashlight. In the flight or fight response situation, Link swiftly shoved the bottle into his jean pocket as he rushed out of the location, startling the security guard in turn.

"Hey! Who's out there!?" The security guard flashed his light, inching his way towards the school gates. He made his way towards the source of the sudden noise before catching glimpse of the gruesome sight Link laid his eyes upon earlier.

* * *

After a couple of minutes of running non-stop, Link finally arrived at his house. He took the house key out of his pockets, opened the door and stepped inside. His grandmother glanced up at him, sighing of relief to see her oldest grandchild finally home while Link caught his breath.

"Link?" Agnes questioned while her voice grew with concern. "What took you so long? You were gone for almost thirty minutes. We already ate dinner without you."

Link sheepishly chuckled, scratching the back of his head. He quickly had to muster up a lie, otherwise his grandmother might grow suspicious. "Well, to keep things short, I happened to take the scenic route—you know, a stroll through Luna Park, all that jazz. While observing the lake, my thoughts just drifted off elsewhere."

Agnes raised a brow in response, almost as if she knew her grandson was lying yet bought it anyways. The older woman beamed which was quickly followed by a small chuckle. "You had your head up in the clouds again, didn't you? You were always quite the daydreamer—in fact, I think your younger brother is following in your footsteps with that. Both of you already sleep in unless someone wakes you up."

"That sounds like me alright." Link laughed slightly before opening up his book bag to take out the bag of cookies. "Oh and by the way, Julia says hello."

"I see." Agnes nodded before hearing the sound of Link's stomach grumble. "I left your dinner in the microwave. I'm sure it's cold by now but it could easily be warmed up in a minute or two."

"Heh, thanks Grandma." From there, Link made his way towards the kitchen to eat before tackling his homework.

Later on that night, Link laid comfortably in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His mind was fixated the entire time on the sudden murder, wondering why it took place to begin with. Second, the mysterious child almost struck him as some sort of hallucination or—nah, he wasn't quite sure at this point. Link assumed the child must had gotten home safely, hopefully before the murderer found him. He kept note to look up the medication and any articles about the victim tomorrow morning before heading off to school. As Link started to drift off to sleep, only one question remained open.

Just who in the world was Silas Kallis?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're done with chapter one folks! I am not sure when chapter two will come around (I have a low attention span), but it will definitely most likely introduce the cast. Depending on how things proceed in this story and my mood, I might eventually keep things simple or might move up the rating but for now, this is rated T.
> 
> I'm sure you've already noticed that this story will feature non-Smash characters from various smasher's universes too. It makes things more fun for me that way.
> 
> Also depending on my mood and other factors, I may keep things simply realistic or throw in some eldritch abominations for the hell of it! I'm not sure yet. Which one sounds more fun? Who knows.
> 
> As for Silas, I totally did not rip off his name from another character who shares the same voice actor as one of the Smashers.
> 
> Until next time!


	3. Chapter 2: The Boy with the Guitar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After roughly a month and a half, I finally sat down and finished the second chapter. To confess, I didn't suspect it to be long. Anyways, after a few weeks of contemplation I decided to keep the story as a simple murder mystery rather than have the elderitch abominations. As cool as that would be, I don't want to push myself too much on my first story.
> 
> Let me say this before we proceed: any character who is gay will NOT be dying. I really despise that trope, however this doesn't mean they're free from getting injured.
> 
> Song suggestions: Beginning - Life is Stange Ep.5 Soundtrack - Track 1 | Bike ride - Caveman- In the City | At school - | Silas - Silent Hill 2 OST - Pianissimo Epilogue [800% Slower]| Another encounter with the child - Silent Hill 2 OST - White Noiz | Wandering the School/Discovery - Silent Hill 2 - Alone in the Town | Caught - Life is Strange Ep.3 Sountrack - Track 7
> 
> Like always, thanks to the two people who helped me with this.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters nor franchises.  
> Warning for unintentional OOC.

The sun's shimmering rays pierced through the blinds of Link's bedroom, placing more emphasis than the dimly lit glow which was being emitted from his computer screen. Link's bedroom was rather simple—a single bed looking so white and feathery sat next to the window, a dresser nearby the closet hastily decorated with a mixture of Link's clothes and valued belongings and last but not least, Link's desktop near the entrance. While it was relatively small in comparison to the bedrooms of his siblings, Link didn't seem to mind its size. He preferred to keep things as simple as possible, personally feeling a bigger room would only produce more unnecessary clutter.

Link was extremely notorious for sleeping in to the point where his grandmother (or his little sister depending on the circumstances) had to constantly wake him up every day. At first he tried using an alarm clock however he would subconsciously slam the snooze button, allowing him to gain more minutes of precious sleep instead of getting ready for the day or in today's case, another school day. Today however differed. Instead, he was more inclined on piecing the puzzles to yesterday's sudden event.

His gaze was completely focused on the computer screen. Link motioned the cursor towards the internet browser before double clicking. Immediately the browser opened up the search engine. Link glanced towards the plastic vial, grabbing it as he began typing in its name. He was determined to find out what exactly the brand name of sertraline was. When the page finished loading, the search engine revealed the brand name of the drug to be Zoloft. Link couldn't help but be curious as to what the drug was used to treat while he decided to do a bit of research in the meantime. While Link began to read, he learned that Zoloft was an antidepressant used to help treat depression, obsession-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and in some cases, used to alleviate anxiety and maybe depressive symptoms in autistic individuals.

Link allowed the newfound information to process for a bit before resuming on. His eyes wandered back towards this Silas character's vile, pondering why the possible suspect took antidepressants in the first place. Was Silas depressed? Anxious? Obsessive? Compulsive? Autistic? There were many possible underlying causes to why Silas was on the medication in the first place but Link quickly omitted himself from contemplating further. After all, it was none of his business to begin with, so it was completely pointless to play armchair psychiatrist.

"I should probably check the local news site to see if any information has been posted," Link muttered to himself as he began typing. Within a few seconds, the Northbury news site popped up as he clicked on it right away. Luck was in his favor as the key article appeared on the website's homepage. Instantly clicking it, the article revealed the murder victim to be a girl by the name of Alice Crosby.

"Alice Crosby—just where did I hear that name before!?"

Link paused for a moment and took a deep breath to gather up his thoughts. His gaze focused immensely at Alice's photo. His vision began losing focus, blurring even as he contemplations drifted off further. A drop of sweat appeared at his temples and although it seemed impossible, Link's frown got even deeper. Suddenly, his thoughts constructed the bits of pieces together while Link's eyes widened in shock as if something clutched onto him with full force and extracted him back into reality. Soon enough, Link's face relaxed as he was finally about to recall who Alice was. Unfortunately Link knew little to nothing about Alice besides the fact she was a junior and on the cheer squad, that's it. But the question Link needed answers for still remained—just what exactly was the connection between Silas and this Alice girl? Where they friends? Enemies? Acquaintances? Classmates? All of these options were likely possible given Link knew absolutely nothing about Silas whatsoever. For all he could know, Silas could just nothing more be some college-aged guy Alice was dating at the time before going through some nasty breakup. But alas, these were only mere theories created from Link's lack of knowledge about these two particular individuals.

Before Link could proceed on with his investigation, the door swung open, prompting Link to react immediately as he quickly closed out of his browser. He cocked his head towards the entrance of his room as Agnes inched inside and smiled.

"My, my, this is quite a surprise," she innocently exclaimed. "For once, the lazy boy is wide awake however it appears he has yet to get dressed."

Link simply exchanged a sheepish grin which was preceded by slight laughter in response to his grandmother's jest. He took a deep breath, held his hand up high and opened his mouth slightly as if to retract Agnes's statement. But in the spur of the moment, Link glanced down before perking up, coming to a conclusion that his grandmother had a point. In turn, Link continued grinning in embarrassment as his cheeks flushed a hue of red. Agnes giggled at her grandson's reaction before stepping out of the room, leaving him alone to get ready for the day.

From there, Link gathered up his belongings, stuffed his notebooks in his backpack and hastily grabbed his clothes before stepping out of his bedroom. He did his usual routine which consisted of taking a shower, doing his business, brushing and flossing his teeth accompanied with getting himself dressed. Afterwards, he left the bathroom and rushed downstairs and into the kitchen. Agnes was prepping herself a cup of coffee as Link quickly pranced around her and made his way towards the cabinets, confiscating a packet of pastry tarts on his way out.

Before departing, Link placed on his headphones, browsing his phone for the perfect song and hopped on his bike. Link took off to the streets and began his journey towards Sherfield High. The houses in Link's neighborhood all differed from one another with some of them resembling cookie cutter houses while others were Folk Victorian. Overall, the neighborhood reminded Link of his grandmother's quilt with each patch as eye-catching and unique. In retrospect, it was very pleasing to the human eye.

The morning streets of Northbury were bustling with various denizens ranging from blue-collar workers, businessmen, busy stay-at-home parents getting a jumpstart on their daily errands to even students making their way towards the campus. Buses and other vehicles alike were crammed into the busy streets, the town's buildings near the school were three and four stories high being accompanied by narrow cobbled side streets, coffee shops fluttered with energizing life while florists stepped with bouquets out on the street with buckets. On his usual route, Link caught a whiff of fresh bread being produced at the local bakeries as it intertwined itself with the scent of freshly brewed morning java.

After a few minutes of journeying his way towards the busy Northbury crowds, Link managed to finally arrive at his destination, Sherfield High. The steel regal gates which placed heavy emphasis on the school's main entrance were wide open, extending an open invitation to students and faculty alike. Like the rest of the buildings in Northbury, the Sherfield campus resembled more of a prestigious university than anything else. Its russet cement walls were complimented with bright flowers outlining the walkway, oak trees were scattered across the freshly cut grass as wooden benches rested on top. Maintenance work was up to date was there were practically no signs of rubble, cracks or decay on the building. Overall, Sherfield high was very well taken care off as it had an abundant amount of enticing trees and plant life which painted a stunningly stark contrast to the building, placing emphasis on the beauty of the school's canvas.

Link rode passed the gates and removed his feet from the pedals, gracefully leaping off to the side while keeping a firm grip on the handle. He made haste towards the bike rack, claiming his usual spot near the corner. He proceeded to open up his backpack slightly, took out his bike lock and attached the U-lock around the rear wheel, the frame and the bike rack. Next Link grabbed onto the cable, pushing one end through the front wheel, passing one loop through the other while he secured the first loop to the main lock. Before departing, Link tested to make sure he secured his bike right as he lightly yanked it. Not once did it move as a sigh of satisfaction escaped his lips. He closed up his backpack, got up and strode his way towards the campus to head on over to the main doors.

Prior to Link's own knowledge, he didn't seem to catch sight of Ravio and what others dubbed as his opposite approaching from behind. Ravio beamed as he inched towards Link and tapped him on the shoulder. Link naturally turned around with his guard-up before grinning, seeing it was only just Ravio and Dark.

"Good morning Mr. Hero," Ravio happily greeted. "How are you today?"

" _Mr. Hero…"_

Link paused for a bit, recalling Ravio's self-proclaimed nickname for him since childhood. While he and Ravio somewhat resembled one another appearance wise, they were completely different in terms of personality. Both were kindhearted individuals who had the best of everyone's interests but while Link was courageous and daring, Ravio was not. Instead, Ravio was lazy and quite the coward, a sharp contrast compared to Link yet that didn't stop him aiding his friends—well, he did have his limits. Needless to say, despite their contrasts, both Link and Ravio were good individuals who always lent out a helping hand in need (more so Link than Ravio). Realizing his head was up in the clouds, Link shook his head and answered Ravio's question.

"I'm fine. Yourself?"

Ravio was about to answer however Dark decided to take over the conversation instead. He had a habit of instigating himself in, even if it was an A and B conversation he wasn't involved in. He wrapped his arm around Link's shoulder, leaned in and cocked a sly grin towards him.

"Say buddy," he began, "why didn't ya come hang with us last night? Don't tell me you're becoming too good for your ol' pals."

"Dark, I told you yester—!" Dark lifted up a finger, hushing Ravio from talking any further. In return, Ravio crossed his arms and sighed hopelessly in defeat, rendering it useless to barge in once Dark starts going on one of his useless tangents. Before Link could even answer, Dark raised his brow playfully while his grin widened.

"Let me guess—you were too caught up in homework to even consider hanging out with us? Oh wait! That's kind of petty of me to quickly assume you of avoiding us on purpose. Who knows, you could have been watching your brother and sister the entire time."

Link ducked slightly to escape Dark's grip before turning around. He wondered why Dark was quick to proclaim such nonsense before reminding himself that Dark was always one to jump straight to conclusions without any explanation. He crossed his arms, shook his head and chuckled softly at his friend.

"Dark, please," Link interrupted. "I was helping one of my grandmother's friends bring in the latest shipment for her antique store. Afterwards I was tired out from all of the hard work so I've decided just to go straight home. You out of all people should know how my grandmother is when I don't arrive home at a certain time."

Dark rolled his eyes in response and narrowed his gaze towards him. "Why can't fuckin' old people do their own damn shit for once!? Instead they have to ask for us younger people to do it for them and god forbid you refuse their request. The moment you decline in the nicest way possible, they suddenly transform from sickly sweet to a lemony sour and bitch about how our generation is so ungrateful and entitled."

"Ahem—people like you are exactly why some of them think that!"

The trio turned around to see a disappointed Ilia narrowing her gaze towards Dark before exchanging greetings with Link and Ravio. Dark frowned in return and raised his arms in utter defeat. He knew there was no point in arguing with Ilia, especially this early in the morning. The last thing he needed to hear was an earful from her about his brash attitude and how he should be more like Link and Ravio. Seizing the opportunity away from Dark, Ravio decided to ramble on about last night's movie. Link couldn't help but be thankful, especially if it meant all eyes were off him for a while. It was quite difficult to comprehend his thoughts into words but Link didn't want to explain what he witnessed last night to his friends. Instead, he allowed his mind to drift off elsewhere for the time being.

Link began scanning the campus, being completely fixated on Alice's sudden death. It was no brainer that there were people close to her as he wanted to study how much toll her death placed on them. His eyes caught sight of a group of cheerleaders as they hugged one another, their make-up smeared along with their eyes swollen from crying. A group of football players nearby were worried about her sudden disappearance, trying to reassure the cheerleaders with positive thoughts. Meanwhile, another group nearby chatted away about Alice. Likewise, Link decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Don't you find it strange that Alice disappeared all of a sudden?" a girl exclaimed. "I mean, she was perfectly fine yesterday! I talked to her and everything."

"Who knows," a boy chimed in. "Maybe she's just feeling under the weather or something."

"Yeah, that could be it…"

While Link continued to stare off into space, his eyes wandered elsewhere, making contact with a mysterious figure which stood out from the rest of the crowd. Their eyes were a fiery crimson color as they contrasted with his serene blue pair. Link continued to scope the figure as it turned out to be a young male around four or five inches shorter than him. His attire was rather gloomy compared to the others that surrounded him. The boy struck Link as one who had a preference for muted colors as opposed to the vibrant colors which everyone else wore. He donned a navy blue flannel shirt complimented by a dark slate gray scarf and black skinny jeans. His black hair was untamed, bedhead even as it seemed to naturally part itself in a spiky, wild but unique style. He clutched onto a guitar case as Link unintentionally made eye contact for the second time. Link took note of the boy's scowl. He had the piercing gaze which could easily strike down foes with fear.

As Link continued focusing elsewhere, Ravio motioned his hand in front of Link's face to grab his attention.

"Mr. Hero… Oh earth to Mr. Hero—are you there?" Ravio emphasized with a bit of singing.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry about that." Link chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. He didn't realize that Ravio was trying to garner his attention for about five minutes now.

"You missed my explanation Link!" Ravio whined, pouting. "Just what were you exactly staring at? Or did your mind drift off somewhere else again."

"My mind just drifted off somewhere else, that's all," Link replied casually. Ravio's mood swiftly lightened up as he bought Link's lie. Dark on the other hand, caught him red-handed yet decided it wasn't worth bringing up. Instead, he caught Link's figure of interest and grimaced.

"Oh great, it's that shithead…" Dark murmured under his breath. Ilia heard him as she swiftly glanced over the boy with the guitar entering instead before whispering towards Dark.

"Hey, that wasn't very nice of you!"

"I know," Dark replied flatly. "Trust me Ilia, that guy's nothing but a fuckin' jackass."

"If you say so captain attitude." Ilia rolled her eyes at Dark and shook her head in disbelief. Dark stuck out his tongue in return, finding Ilia to be quite gullible at times. Instead, he just ushered her and the rest of the gang to start heading over to class before the bell rang.

* * *

In English, Link stared at his literature book while his teacher Mr. Lowell read a passage from  _The Merchant of Clock Town_. Truth be told, Link actually enjoyed his English class. For starters, Mr. Lowell, otherwise known as Marth was fairly young compared to most of the faculty and staff who worked at Sherfield. Only getting his teaching degree recently, Marth had received his tenure after starting his position last year. Not only was he extremely passionate about his job, Marth was also genuine with his students as well. Rumor going around the school had it that Marth was romantically interested in one of the school's music teachers, Caeda Tierney. Just like Marth, Caeda was also said to be kind and encouraging. No wonder the two were sincerely interested in one another.

However before Marth could even finish reading the short story, he was abruptly cut off by the intercom.

"Attention all students and faculty, I repeat, attention all students and faculty," the voice said, "please report immediately to the gymnasium for an emergency assembly. I repeat, all students and faculty are to report to the gymnasium for an emergency assembly."

Everyone followed directions as Marth told them to complete the short story and answer the questions provided in the textbook for homework.

Link had a hunch about the sudden assembly's topic, especially since he discovered Alice's disassembled body near school grounds last night. The halls were crowded with people, all engaged in conversations with their friends. Link heard various noises here and there, knowing the students were left hanging, wondering why there was a need for an assembly in the first place. The monotone buzz of several-hundred students hummed like a chorus of mindless drones. Frankly for Link, he caught sight of a familiar trio as he trudged through the rampaging river of students and made his way towards them.

The taller one of the trio caught sight of Link and smiled.

"Hey Link!" he greeted. "Do you have any clue what this assembly's about?"

"To be honest with you Reyn, not really," Link answered. He wanted to confess to them about the murder yet kept his mouth shut. What if the assembly was about something else the entire time? Spilling the beans would only make Link look like the village idiot among his friends if that happened to be the case.

Hordes of students stepped inside the gymnasium as the staff separated sections according to class. Link tailed behind Fiora while Ravio snuck up and greeted him. They made their way onto the bleachers and plopped themselves down as they were joined in by other sophomores. Eventually the entire gym began filling up as the monotonous buzz of the students returned, each one preoccupied in their own sidebar conversations. As they continued talking amongst themselves, Link noticed the principal stepped into the gymnasium alongside a couple of police officers. It seemed like the only person who has yet to come was the young man from this morning.

Despite the principal being in his mid-forties, the years had been kind to him. His hair as white as snow was neatly slicked back, his crisp suit highlighting his emphasis as the head authority figure of the school as he motioned towards the center of the gym. He held his hand up high in the air to gather the attention of both the students and faculty as the chatter immediately ceased. When the gym grew completely silent, the principal motioned the microphone towards his mouth.

"First of all, good morning," he simply began, "For those who aren't too familiar with me, I am Principal Matthias Hathaway. Now before we proceed, I am sure all of you don't know why I issued this assembly."

The students bobbed their heads in response while Link mimicked them to blend in with the crowd. Principal Hathaway smiled slightly before continuing.

"Last night, one of our security guards stumbled upon an extremely gruesome sight. They called the police right away and after some investigations, it turns out one of our lovely students has been murdered near the campus entrance."

He motioned his hand over what appeared to be a cloth before removing it, revealing Alice's portrait. A frown was plastered on his face as he felt awful about the loss of one of his students. Some students gasped, some winced while those closest to Alice crumbled completely into tears. Principal Hathaway raised his hand up once more, trying to gather their attention.

"I know you are all frightened but her murder might be only a mere coincidence. Perhaps the killer decided to place her remains near the campus on purpose to thwart off our law enforcement from catching them right away. Trust me, Chief Dedede and the other officers will be investigating the murder of Alice." He paused for a few seconds to recollect his thoughts. "To make sure nothing like this happens on our campus, I will be upping the night security."

From there, the principal handed the microphone over to a heavyset man. Chief Dedede began to lecture, reassuring students once more before telling them if they stumble upon something strange or unusual to report it immediately. As he continued rambling, Reyn noticed something as he couldn't help but softly chuckle.

"Is it me or does the police chief look like a penguin?" he pointed out bluntly. Fiora glanced over at him and frowned. She placed her finger on her lips and shushed him. Reyn pouted a bit before diverting his gaze towards the center of the gym.

* * *

After what felt like several hours, the assembly finally came to an end as the students were dismissed and ordered to attend their next class period. Link got up from the bleachers and left the gymnasium. For now, he decided to try his best to divert his speculations on something else. As Chief Dedede lectured earlier, the murder of Alice Crosby could just be a mere coincidence which happened to be on school grounds, nothing more. He wandered the corridors in search of his locker to gather up his things for chemistry. As Link began opening his locker, he was coincidently greeted by Dark.

"Hey Link, I'm surprised that cheerleader even got murdered last night," Dark remarked. By his tone alone, it was highly evident that Dark was still confused about the entire situation. Link however kept a straight face which didn't surprise Dark in the slightest.

"Not surprised you seem to be unfazed by it dude." Dark smiled slightly and rested his arm on his hip. "Just how do you remain so calm in these kinds of situations Link?"

Link simply shrugged in response as Dark inched closer towards him. "As a matter of fact, if you weren't one of my childhood friends, I would have personally found your calm behavior to be oddly suspicious. Sometimes I forget that your father was a detective."

" _Link, you must promise me something. If something dire ever happens to me, please promise me that you'll be strong for your siblings and most importantly your mother."_

Instead of replying, Link stood motionless like a deer in the headlights. He recognized hearing that voice somewhere before but where? It felt so warm, so familiar as if it was the final time he heard it before unfortunate events partook shortly after. About a few seconds of quick contemplation ought to do the trick as the realization hit him like a hammer—the voice belonged to no other but his own father. While Link refused to remember that day on the spot, since then he took heed to his father's words. Not once did he ever show signs of weakness nor did he falter. Instead, he had to be brave not only for the ones he cared for but for the rest of the world too. It was almost as if the world needed a hero to depend on and Link was randomly chosen for the task. Dark quickly caught onto this as he decided to swiftly change the subject rather than to unlock old wounds.

"So anyways," Dark continued as crossed his arms and rested them on his chest. "Why did you lie to Ravio this morning?"

Link perked up and tilted his head in confusion. "Lie about what?"

Dark rolled his eyes and momentarily glared at Link. "Don't play dumb with me Link. You lied to Ravio this morning about being fixated on your own thoughts. You were staring at someone, weren't you?"

"It was on accident! I got distracted, my mind wandered off somewhere and I accidentally made eye contact with some weird guy." Link sighed deeply in slight annoyance as he grabbed his chemistry book and closed his locker.

"Peculiar is a nicer way of putting it," Dark commented while keeping a straight face, however it quickly shifted into that of complete disgust. "Link, I'm only going to say this once but you should stay away from that boy."

"Because the boy with the guitar is totally a bad guy," Link replied flatly. Dark detected a hint of mockery in Link's tone as his expression darkened further.

"I'm serious Link. That guy is nothing but trouble. In fact, he's a fuckin' jackass if you ask me. No regard for anyone else but himself. Trust me, it isn't wise to tangle around with lowlifes like him."

As Link was about to reply, another familiar face cut him off. Her long blonde hair was nearly parted in the middle while a short braid improvised as a headband. She donned a white collared blouse along with by a black bow and a matching skirt to compliment her attire. She impatiently tapped her foot on the floor to garner their attention.

"Zelda?! What are YOU doing here?" Dark chuckled anxiously at the sight of Zelda as if he was trying to brush off anything harsh he said earlier. Not once did Zelda fall for his tricks. Instead, her expression glowered while she inched up towards the two. It was obviously clear she wasn't amused by Dark's words.

"You clearly fail to realize those exact same words could be said about you," Zelda bluntly pointed out. Link decided to slowly back away from this mess yet Zelda quickly caught him. "And just where do you think you're going Link!?"

"Uh, class?" He exchanged a lazy yet truthful response. Zelda on the other hand narrowed her gaze as she exchanged that dirty look with Link.

"I can't believe you out of all people allowed him to get away with this!" she scolded. "Link, you out of all people should know better to dismiss Dark's nonsense and call him out on it!"

Dark exchanged a playful smirk in response. "Jeez—well, I guess I'm two years old now. Thank you Zelda for opening up my eyes to the ways of righteousness. Thank you for showing me the path to enlightenment! Thank you for—!"

"Enough with the pointless sarcasm already!" Zelda screeched. She clenched her hands into a fist before proceeding to turn her back on them. "You both can be so frustrating at times, with Dark being a complete imbecile while Link is just—argh!" With those words, she stormed off to her next class. Link wondered what was that all about and furthermore, why would she be so infuriated with Dark's assumptions about some guy he barely even knew in the first place?

Dark frowned in response as he rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say mom."

"Thanks a lot for getting me dragged into this Dark," Link exclaimed in slight irritation. Great, just what he needed was to be on Zelda's bad side. Instead of replying, Dark made his way straight towards class instead, leaving Link by himself. Link sighed in return, wondering if this day could get even worse. He failed to realize that to both his friends and Zelda, he was quite difficult to read. Nobody knew what he was thinking. It didn't help that unless he was with friends, he was generally a quiet person. To be honest, Link wasn't upset with Zelda's outburst but rather, he was confused by it. Link guessed she might of had that guy in one of her classes. So in retrospect, she had every right to be upset with him. The least he could do is apologize but for now, Link figured he should really get to chemistry before he ended up getting in trouble.

* * *

Link rushed into his chemistry class and perched himself in his assigned seat. Olimar cocked a brow and stared at Link.

"Mr. Ferren, I was wondering if you were going to blast yourself into my classroom or not today. Well luckily for you, there's bell work on the board so I suggest tackling that," Olimar jested. Frankly Link was on fairly good terms with his chemistry teacher so at the most, he would receive his scolding in the form of tacky but otherwise harmless jokes.

As Link tackled the bell work on the board, Olimar cleared his throat to grab the attention of his students. "By the way, before I forget, we're having an unexpected transfer student from my first period class. I'm just informing you all in advance so it doesn't interrupt our schedule."

Link slightly perked up from his assignment and found it quite odd how they were getting a sudden transfer. It was fairly known that students in high school can only swap and change classes during the first week of school. So in turn, Link found it fairly strange that the adviser allowed someone to change their schedule a month in. He glanced back at his bell work and answered the review questions as the sound of the swinging door caught Link's attention. His curiosity got the best of him as he wondered who the transfer was as he almost froze on sight. There stood the boy he stared at earlier this morning before school started. He appeared to be engrossed in Olimar's words as he murmured something to the boy before pointing towards a vacant seat. Replying with a short nod, the boy made his way towards the empty seat. Coincidentally, it happened to be next to Link.

While the boy began taking out the needed materials for chemistry, Link couldn't help but be curious. Just who exactly was this guy and why was he allowed to transfer during the first quarter of the semester? He knew it was wrong to pry into the affairs of others but nothing seemed to be adding up. First there was the murder of Alice, then the emergency assembly, after that was Zelda's outburst and now a sudden transfer student. He couldn't help but feel that all of these things were somehow linked to one another, almost as if they were clues to an even bigger mystery but what? Link grumbled, scratching off those tidbits as mere coincidences. Now wasn't the time to be reading too much into simple events.

Link's own curiosity got the best of him as he decided to quickly take a sneak peek at the boy next to him. One glance couldn't hurt. The least he wanted to do was to put a name on the somewhat unfamiliar face. To confess, it was the first time Link had ever seen this guy in Sherfield then again, there was an estimate of almost four-thousand students total. Link quickly snuck a little peep at the guy's paper and read the name.

Silas Kallis.

" _Wait a minute… this guy is Silas?!"_

Link wasn't expecting this at all. As a matter of fact, it completely blew him away completely by surprise, almost as if fate continued planting startling presents, just for him. His entire estimate about Silas was way off since it turned out he was roughly around the same age as Link. Two, he didn't suspect Silas to be someone so reticent. If it wasn't for his baby face, Silas would had been much more intimidating than he thought. So why was it exactly that Dark claimed Silas to be so aggressive, so brutish and nothing but trouble? Link guessed if he wanted answers, he needed to study Silas's temperament while keeping heed of Dark (and his own) suspicion.

Olimar cleared his throat as he captured his students' undivided attention. He instructed them to pass their bell work towards the left of their row. Afterwards he picked them up and neatly placed the pile on top of his desk before continuing on.

"So class," he began," can someone please tell me what the atomic theory is?"

All the students in the class to include Link exchanged glances with one another while they kept their mouths shut. They were unsure who was going to volunteer themselves to answer while others either knew they answered the bell work incorrectly or just didn't feel like answering at all. Link rested his head on the palm of his hand in boredom. A few seconds later, he was caught by surprise as Silas stood up.

"The atomic theory is the scientific theory that all matter is made up of tiny indivisible particles known as atoms. The atoms of each element are effectively identical however differ to those of other elements and unite to form compounds in fixed proportions," Silas explained before sitting back down, which in turned cause Olimar's lips to curl wide.

"That is correct," Olimar replied enthusiastically. He pulled down the projector screen with an operating pole before dimming the lights. Everyone took out their notebooks as today's lesson was on the atomic structure. Throughout the lecture, Link multitasked with both jolting down notes and keeping a watchful eye Silas without him growing any sort of suspicion. So far Link learned Silas was extremely quiet in class. He was deeply engrossed in his own work and nothing else. However every time someone like Peach would ask Olimar a question on something she didn't quite understand, Silas would roll his eyes and scoff, demonstrating that he was rather impatient when class got interrupted, despite Olimar wanting his students to grasp chemistry to the best of their ability. Perhaps it was the one of the quirks of being highly intelligent on the subject or just his ego talking—that was what Link assumed anyways. He knew it was too early to judge Silas' overall character so he guessed Silas preferred progressing forward when it came to his studies.

* * *

Eventually lunch came knocking around the corner. Students alike scattered themselves across the campus, some eating their meals inside the cafeteria while others preferred sitting outside in hopes of obtaining some fresh air. While Link heard many horror stories about cafeteria food from his siblings, luckily Sherfield didn't have that problem. Instead they hired professional chefs to provide their students with quality meals. Link stepped out of the cafeteria with his tray in hand which consisted of baked mostaccioli, a small salad along with a side of garlic bread. He made his way towards his usual hangout spot (minus Shulk who had some studying to do at the library while Reyn and Fiora accompanied him) in the middle of the courtyard.

Link plopped his lunch tray between Ravio and Ilia as Dark sat across from them. He poked his baked ziti with his fork and munched silently on his meal. Meanwhile his friends chatted amongst one another about the assembly before Ilia swiftly changed the subject to a much lighter topic.

"I've heard they have yet to take down the pieces from last year's art show in the student lounge," Ilia informed them, giving her friends an obvious hint.

While Dark replied with his usual snark, Link decided to tune out his friends and search for Silas. He caught sight of him sitting under the tree alone. Link observed him, wondering if Silas even had any friends to begin. He recalled Silas's impatience and slight agitation during chemistry. Link felt like he pretty much answered his own question. It was obvious Silas's attitude clearly kept people away from him and furthermore, he didn't seem to mind. In a strange sense, Link could easily dub him as the supposed lone wolf of the campus. Little did he know, Dark noticed Link wasn't paying attention yet again nor did he had to guess who he was focused on.

"Like I said dude," Dark exclaimed as he wiped his face off with a napkin. "That guy's nothing but trouble."

Link cocked his head away and gave his attention towards Dark. He paused for a moment, reluctant to say anything negative about the guy yet given what he's seen of him in chemistry, he figured Dark's assumption must be true. As Link began losing himself in his own train of thoughts, he failed to see the new figure who joined them, sitting next to Dark. They closed up the novel they were reading, gently placed it to their left, adjusted their glasses and looked at Dark.

"Have you actually bothered getting to know him?" they countered, which in turn caused Dark to give off a disappointed groan. Link perked up slightly and smiled.

"Hey Robin," Link chirped, paying absolutely no heed to a disgruntled Dark. "I didn't even notice you."

"That's because I was observing last year's art show display." A smile formed upon Robin's lips as his eyes twinkled in delight. "Link, I suggest you check it out before maintenance takes everything down. In fact, I think it might surprise you."

Robin leaned forward as he took out his cellphone, entered the passcode and opened up the photo album. He skimmed to find something which piped his interest before showing it to Link, causing Ravio and Ilia to tilt towards the screen. Link's mouth gaped open as his eyes were fixated on the image as it turned out to be a rough pencil sketch of the campus. Everything to include the campus exterior and the students were hastily drawn expect one particular individual, himself. Link had no clue why he was the one in the drawing to be fully rendered in comparison to the others. He found it to be quite strange yet at the same time, he was intrigued. Robin swiped his phone and showed him more pieces similar to the campus sketch, all done by the same artist. Link was once again intrigued how he seemed to pop out from the rest of the subject, almost as if the artist had some sort of infatuation for him. That or he sparked them as an interesting drawing subject.

While everyone stared in awe, Dark on the other hand, huffed in complete boredom. If there was one thing he despised, it was being ignored. He enjoyed being the center of attention for both all the right and wrong reasons. Dark leaned towards the phone and grumbled.

"I wouldn't be surprised if  _she_  drew that," he commented dryly, rolling his eyes while at it.

"It doesn't look like something she would do," Ilia answered back nonchalantly. She grabbed Robin's phone and thoroughly examined the pictures.

"To be fair," Robin butted in, "Dark may actually have a point on this one. Don't forget about some of the stunts she tried pulling off last year."

Link decided to catch another glimpse at Silas while his friends were preoccupied in discussing possible contenders for the artwork. At some point, he could had sworn he heard Dark mention to Robin about why he wasn't lingering around Chrom or Shulk even. During his second observational round, Link witnessed Silas exchanging a few words with Lucina and to his own astonishment, Zelda. Not once did Link see Silas being obnoxious as Dark would put it. He figured Silas most likely had an unfortunate face which naturally had a scowl plastered onto it. Before glancing away, Link noticed another familiar figure approaching yet was abruptly interrupted.

"Speak of the devil, there's the whore and the jackass," Dark introduced boldly. His statement received eye rolls from Robin and Ilia while Ravio simply shrugged, refusing to get tangled up into another one of Dark's shambles. Link shook his head and peered over, quickly realizing the woman talking to Silas was none other than his "favorite" residential stalker—well, former—Felicia McIntyre, otherwise known as Cia. He couldn't help but cringe as he reminisced some of the incidents involving her the prior year. Frankly her fixation on him unexpectedly dwindled towards the end last year, yet Link never knew why. Either she finally managed to grasp the hint, lost interest or perhaps she heavily regretted her own actions.

As Link studied their interaction from a far, he was cut off by Dark's snicker which was immediately preceded with a crude remark afterwards.

"Wow, not even jackass over there wants the skank near him. Hell, that's probably the only good quality he has." Dark clutched onto his stomach and busted out into a fit of laughter. His high-pitched squeals reminded Link of a hyena, causing him to wince slightly. Thankfully his howling ceased as a yelp escaped his lips, causing him to glare in Ilia's direction.

"Ow—what the fuck was that for?!" he cried.

"Oops, I guess my hand slipped," she casually remarked, smirking. Link knew Ilia had extremely low tolerance for stupidity, especially when it came towards derogatory slurs towards women in general. She felt they were rather unnecessary, plus there were much better terms to describe terrible people.

While Dark tried to argue his point, Link glanced in Silas's direction just to see him gone. There was much more to Silas than he knew and Link was determined to find out, even if it meant taking baby steps.

* * *

A few hours later, the school day eventually ended as all after school activities were canceled for the day due to last night's incident. Later on that evening, Link laid on top of his bed as his gaze was completely fixated on the ceiling. While a series of peculiar events occurred today, Link paid no heed towards most of them. Instead, he was fixated on Silas yet again. There was something about him which piped Link's interest. As Link grew absent from the depths of reality, he decided to take a journey and glue in the pieces to Silas's profile. He recalled all the information he learned about him thus far and kept in mind the input of others, even if some of them (such as Dark's bitter statements) proved to be based completely on biases—in other words, their own opinions. So far, the only things he knew about Silas was that he took antidepressants, was silent as a lonely winter's night and was short-tempered, even if he managed to mask it in the form of an annoyed grunt. From the little he learned about his interrogation, so far the negatives managed to outweigh the positives by a huge landslide. Deep down, Link knew it wasn't right to quickly judge Silas by such little information. With all due respect, Link figured the least he could do was continue his investigation.

Link shuffled his position, his gaze facing the bedroom entrance as he suddenly remembered he needed to apologize to Zelda about earlier and clarify his side of the story. After all, he never had the chance to speak during that fiasco. As Link was about to reach for his phone, a sudden thud was heard not from afar. He swiftly leaped up, peeked out of the curtains to see if anything was going on outside. While he scanned the house across from his, he caught sight of a familiar figure; the young boy from yesterday night.

" _That's odd… I don't recall ever seeing him in the neighborhood…"_

He slowly inched up and sat on his knees. At this point he was extremely close to considering the boy to either be a hallucination or a ghost even. For one, Link didn't recall anyone moving out of the neighborhood for the last six months and two, the child stood out from the rest of the scenery. Like yesterday, he donned a uniform which consisted of a white colored blouse, a blue sweater and navy blue pants, informing Link the young boy attended a private academy. Link easily recalled some of Northbury's private schools being on the northeast side of town. Just what was the exact purpose the boy had being on the other end of the town to begin with? Perhaps he was just trying to escape from the clutches of his strict home life. Just like Silas, Link could easily craft a plethora of theories behind the mysterious child—that's if the child turned out not to be a figment of his imagination.

Link continued to study the young boy, intensely focused on his body language. The small child hid behind the recycle bin, frantically taking a peek every now and then. He seemed to be tense as he fiddled around with his fingers in a fast, repetitive motion which only placed emphasized on his overall fear. It was definitely clear that he was being pursued which only caused Link to get on his guard. Without notice, the young boy's gaze met with Link's, causing him to storm off on sight. This in turn caused Link to immediately bolt out of his room. He hastily grabbed his house keys and rushed out of the house.

He swiftly hopped onto his bike and began trailing the child through the neighborhood, paying no heed to the group of children startled by his interruption of their game of capture the flag. Link continued pursuing the boy's every move, definitely convinced that the child was an incorporeal being at this point. After a few minutes of tracking him down, the child guided Link back to the Sherfield campus before the boy leaped into a nearby bush. Link hopped off his bike and allowed it to rest itself on a tree near the entrance.

"Guess I have no choice but to trespass…" Link thought out loud. He slowly inched towards the same bush the child jumped into and crawled inside. Strangely enough, the bush harbored a hole large enough for Link to enter school grounds.

"… _Was this always here?"_

He pondered how the hole even got here or why was it made in the first place. It was impossible for the small child to even create such without a gadget of some sort. Link assumed either someone else barged in at one point or one of the faculty members ordered the janitor to cover up the damage with a bush. Realizing that he had no other choice, Link crawled through the hole and pushed himself up, brushing off any traces of dirt and leaves from his attire before presuming on. Link knew he was risking the consequences of getting caught but his gut feeling ordered him to explore the campus. He kept in mind the possibility of Principal Hathaway upping the amount of security during the dead of night. Frankly the window near the rose bushes appeared to be slightly loose, making it an easy target for breaking in. Glancing back and forth, Link bolted towards the window and slowly got on top of the bench, trying to create little to no noise as possible. As he leaned against the window, Link applied a bit of force with his forearms as the rectangular glass tilted horizontally towards him in an angular position to avoid it from smacking his head. Link grabbed onto the ledge of the window and pulled himself inside, colliding onto a wooden desk.

He quickly adjusted himself and closed the window to give the security guards a false sense of security that everything was fine. Link dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He lightly tapped the button on the right, revealed the home screen and swiped his thumb in a vertical motion before turning on its flashlight.

"And just when you thought you brought all of the important essentials, you forgot to bring a flashlight," Link lowly remarked. "Great—guess my phone light will have to do for now. Luckily it still has eighty percent of battery life left otherwise I would of been screwed big time."

Before departing the room, Link motioned his phone around the room as landed himself inside one of the art classrooms. He studied the horizontal pivoting window for just a slight moment before making way towards the other.

" _Strange… why would one window be completely different from the rest? It's almost as if I'm stuck in some kind of survival horror game with the pivoting window being the plot device that allows me to progress onwards."_

Link unlocked the classroom and stepped outside the dark hallway. His footsteps echoed through the corridors as he began to wander, passing by the sea of lockers, all which were neatly aligned in a straight row while hugging themselves against the wall. He slowly made his way towards the second floor, knowing the classroom doors were all locked during this hour. As he inched his way up, Link abruptly stopped in his own tracks. He was caught off-guard by another sound. Link gradually climbed up the stairs as he focused on the sudden sound.

When he arrived, upstairs, Link was able to make out the sound belonging to that of a crying child. Immediately making the connection right away, he figured the boy must definitely be frightened. He began to follow the sound of the source, picking up his pace. As the muffled cries gradually grew louder, Link stopped in his tracks and got a whiff of a large amount of a very copper-thick scent coming from the music room. He grimaced in disgust, already knowing the potential outcome of what he was bound to stumble upon yet again. Part of him hoped the boy was actually a ghost the entire time, otherwise what he was about to witness would only be much more depressing.

Taking note of the door being slightly opened, Link inched slowly towards the entrance and gently placed his hand on the door, creaking as he pushed it open. Bit by bit, Link stepped inside the pitch black room as his ears pick up a slight shuffling sound instead. He definitely was not alone in the room. Link closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he took his phone out and shined it around the room. So far everything seemed normal however Link wasn't convinced. He aimed the cellphone light at the ceiling as shock crossed Link's face, causing his jaw to opened slightly.

There hung another student as their body was completely motionless. The only thing which gave it life was a noose, swaying side to side in a hypnotic motion similar to a pendulum. While it may look like the student snuck in and committed suicide, Link knew that wasn't the case. The thick-copper scent informed him otherwise. Blood gradually dripped from their stomach as their shirt was completely drenched in it. Link inched closer as he caught sight of another familiar face—Silas.

Speak of the devil, Silas was on his knees as he caught sight of Link and glowered on sight at his presence. Link recognized the black hoodie he had on from last night as blood splatters were on the corner. Before either of them could interrogate one another, the door was kicked open with sudden force as the police stepped inside and aimed their guns and flashlights at them.

"Freeze! You two have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

The police restrained the two teenagers, forcefully plummeting them against the wall, cuffing them in the process while the other officers began their inspection. Neither Link nor Silas ushered a word as Link's face was void of any expression.  
_  
"And I'm totally fucked."_

Two police officers placed them in the back of their vehicle and drove off to the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we end on a lovely cliffhanger. The two will definitely be interacting with one another in the next chapter so please feel free too give me ideas on how Link should approach him (I have some in mind but I love hearing other people's ideas). I promise that not every chapter is going to have a murder occur and might have some light-hearted ones too so you have any suggestions, please shoot them my way (as long as they're not crack ones of course).
> 
> For the medication, while I was doing some research on Zoloft, I learned that some antidepressants are used to help autistic people with their anxiety so I felt like adding that little fun fact I learned in there.
> 
> For Marth's surname, I decided to go with Lowell, the last name the cheesy Fire Emblem OVA gave him. While it is canonically known that he has no actual surname, I felt like going with Lowell suited him since I prefer going with actual last names rather than doing the common mistake of making his homeland his surname. I personally always found it odd when people did that, especially when Ike's last name is the first name of his father (if you think about it Greil Greil sounds very weird).
> 
> If you want to answer this question, feel free to do so. Since I confirmed Pit is in this story (he will share the same age as his brother), why do you think that Silas attends a public school but not him. This is clearly optional but I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
> 
> Anyways, I forgot what else I was going to add here so I'll be up and running with the third chapter eventually. For now, I'll preoccupy myself with drawing or doing some small drabbles.
> 
> Toodles~


End file.
